Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1887-02-11
DIR. FALMAGE'N SERMON.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE'S
SUNDAY SERMON.

liuer. Ezekiel Xxx, 81.
Two modes of divination by which the
King of Babylon proposed to find out the
will of God. He took bundle of arrows,
put them together, mixed them uD, then
pulled forth one and by the inscription on
1t decided what city he should first assault.
Then an animal was slain, and by the lighter
or darker color Of the liver, the brighter or
darker prospect of success was inferred That
Is the meaning of the text: "He made his
arrows bright, he consulted with images, he
looked in the liver"
Stupid delusionl And yet all the ages have
been filed with delusIons. 1t seems as if the
world loves to be hoodwinked, the deluSion
OF the text only specimen of a vast number
Of deeeits practieedaupon the human race. In
the latter part Of the last century Johanna
Southcote came forth, pretending to have
divine power, made prophecies, had chapels
built in her honor, and one hundred
disciples came forth to follow her. About
live years before the birth of Christ,
Apollonius was born, and he came forth,
and after five years being speechless accord
ing to the tradition, he healed the sick and
raised the dead, and preached virtue, and,
according to the myth, having deceased, was
brought to resurrection!
The De!phic Oracle deceived vast multi
tudes Of people; the Pythoness seated in the
Temple of Apollo uttering crazy jargon
from which the people guessed their indi-
vidual or national fortunes or misfortunes.
The utterances were of such n nature that
you could read them any way you wanted
70 read them. General going forth to bat
tle, consulted the Delphic Oracle, and he
wanted to find out whether he was going to
be safe in the battle, or killed in the battle,
and the answer came forth from the Delphic
Oracle in such words that, if you put the
comma before the word ''never,n it means
mn hi nnH ~ la fRn,,
the word never it means another thing,
just opposite, The message from tho
Delphic Oracle to the General was: "Go
forth, return never in battle shalt
thou perish" If he was killed, that
was according to the Delphic Oracle;
If he came home safely, that was according
to the Delphic Oracle. So the ancient augur
les deceived the people. The priests Of those
auguries, by the fight of birds, or by the in
tonation of thunder, or by the inside appear
ance Of slain animals, told the fortunes or
miSfortuueS of individuals or nations. The
'lbyls deceived the people The sibyls were
supposed to be inspired by women who lived
IN caves and wrote the Sibylline books after
ward purchased by Tarquin the Proud. So
Iateas the year 1929, "a man arose in New York,
pretending to be divine being, and playing
his part so well that wealthy merchants b.
came his disciples and threw their fortunes
Into his discipleship. And so in all ages,
there have been nocromancies, incantations,
withcrafts, sorceries, magical arts, enchant
ments, divinations and deluSions. The one
of the text was only specimen of that
which has been transpiring in all ages of the
world. None of these delusions accom-
plshed any good They deceived, they
pauperized the people, they were as cruel as
they were absurd. They opened no hospitals,
ttey healed no wounds, they wiped away no
tears, they emancipated no serfdom.
But there are those who say that all these
delusions combined are as nothing compared
with the delusion now abroad in the world,
the delusion of the Christian religion. That
delusion has to-day over four hundred mil
lion dupes. 1t proposes to encircle the earth
with its girdle. That which has been called
dclusion has already overshadowed the
Appalachian range on this side the sea, and
1t has overshadowed the Balkan and Cau-
casian ranges on the other side Of the sea. 1t
has conquered England and the United
States. This champion delusion, this hoax,
this swindle of the ages, as it has been called,
has gone forth to conquer the islands of the
Pacific: the Melanasia and the Micronesia
and Malayan Polynesia have already
surrendered to the delusion. Yea, it has
conquered the Ind an Archipelago, and Bor-
neo and Sumatra and Celebes and Java have
fallen under its wiles In the Fiji Islands,
where there are 100000 people, 100000 have
already become the dupes of this Christian
religion, and if things go on as they are now
going on, and if the influence of this great
hallucination of the ages cannot be stopped,
1t will swallow the globe. Supposng, then,
that Christianity is the delusicn of the centu-
ries, as some have pronounced it / propose
his morning to show you what has been ac-
complished by this chimera, this fallacy, this
hoax, this swinde of the ages.
And in the first place, | remark, that this
delusion of the Christian religion has made
wonderful transformations of human char
acter. I will go down the aisle of any church
in Christendom, and l will find ON either side
that aisle those who were once prohigate
profane, unclean of speech and unclean of
action, drunken and lost. But by the power
of this delnsion of the Christian religion they
have been completely transformed, and now
they are kind and amiable and genial and
loving and useful Everybody sees the
change. Under the power of this great hallu-
cination they have quit their former asso-
ciates, and whereas they once found their
chief delight among those who gambled
and swore and raced horses, now they find
their chief JOY among those who go to prayer
meetings and churches; SO complete is the de-
lusinn. Yea, their own families have noticed
1.-THE wife has noticed it, the children have
noticed. The money that went for rum now
goes for books and for clothes and for o luca
ton. He is q new man. All who know him
say there has been a wonderful chang
What is the cause of this change! This K eat
hallucination of the Christian religion There
is as much difference between whathe is now
and what he once was, as between rose an
nettle, as between dove and vultare
as between day and night Tremendous de
lusion
Admiral Farragut, one Of the most ad
mired men of the American navy, early
became victim Of this Christian delusion
and, seated, not long before his death, a
Long Branch, he was giving some friends al
account of his early life. He said IN
father went down in behalf Of the Unite
States Government to put an end to Aarol
Burr's rebellion. / was a cabin boy ant
went along w th him. | could swear like al
old salt l could gamble in every style o
gambling. Iknew all the wickedness ther
was at that time abroad. One day my fathe
cleared everybody out of the cabin excer
myself, and locked the door He said
David, what are you going to dos Wha
are, you going to beg Well,
the sea- Follow the sea and be poor
miserable drunken sailor, kicked and cufPe
abont the world and die of fever in foreig
hospital' 'Ohl no. | said, father, / W.
not be that; will tread the quarterback an
command, as you do No, David, my fathe
| SAID; no, DAVID, person that mas you
principles and your bad habits will neve
tread the quarter deck or command NJ
father went out and shut the door after hin
and l said then: Il will change, | will neve
swear again, / will never drink again, l wi
never gamble again. and, gentlemen, by th
help of God have kept those three vows
sa.s dim. soou after that became Chris
Hinu, and that decided my fate for time an
eDernity."
mother captive OF this great Christia
| Iieiusioni There goes Saul Of Tarsus o
horseback at full gaIlop. Where is he gc
| irg! To destroy Christians He wants n
Hetter playspell than to stand and watch th
iats and coats Of the murderers who ar
snassacring Gods children. There goes th
| Jane man. This time he is afoot. Wher
IS he going nows Going on the road {
Ostia to die for Christ They tried to whi
| h nnt of him thav tried to scare il out {